Anilao critters

Each dive in Anilao is, without fail, an expedition of discovery. The abundance of marine life found in these waters is simply phenomenal. In recent months, scientists from the California Academy of Sciences conducted a survey and discovered 300 new species—a mind-boggling number since just about every corner of our planet has been explored. "The Philippines is one of the hottest of the hotspots for diverse and threatened life on Earth,"  declares Dr. Terrence Gosliner, Dean of Science and Research Collections who leads the survey project. 


The Philippines is part of the Coral Triangle, the richest zone for marine biodiversity on earth. Sadly, stewardship of this God-given treasure has been dismal. The amount of trash floating on our seas is deplorable. Unabated pollution, cyanide and dynamite fishing, rampant poaching of threatened or endangered species are causing irreversible damage on a fragile, overtaxed ecosystem. We are in the brink of losing this wealth due to poverty, ignorance, greed, neglect and carelessness. It's despairing to think future generations will never see the beauty of our oceans unless drastic measures are taken. 


Education is key to ocean conservation. Sharing the magnificence of this underwater world with non-divers is a good place to start. It's difficult to remain indifferent when face to face with these sublime creatures of the deep. The following photographs were taken in different dive sites in Anilao. It reveals a healthy reef ecosystem, alive with diverse life forms found only in the waters of the Coral Triangle.

Porcupine fish

Mantis Shrimp

Mommy moray eel  with juvenile moray eel

Anthias abound in a healthy coral reef system

Barrel or vase coral is common in Batangas waters

Graceful Sea Fans

Unusual markings on a Honeycomb Moray Eel

Ringtailed Cardinal fish

A favorite character, the weird and wonderful Frog fish

Mr. Frog fish

Giant Clam or kabibi, usually made into bathroom sinks

Trevallys or Jacks or better known as Talakitoks

Red Grouper or lapulapu, lucky guy hasn't been caught.

Moray Eel

Nemo! Clown fish

Clown fish

Octopus in his garden

Brown Pipefish

A minute, filter feeding Anemone Crab

Lower left, the well camouflaged, microscopic pygmy sea horse

Ribbon Eel

Leaf Pipe Fish

Sweet lips, also caught for food

Yellow cleaner wrasses

Tiny, almost invisible Glass Shrimp on the right

Brown seahorse

The poisonous stonefish

Sea Quill

Snake Eel

The best time of day in Anilao, cocktail hour

Stunning architecture—Marina Bay Sands

The Marina Bay Sands with the Helix pedestrian bridge left, the ArtScience museum on the right and the curving, cantilevered Skypark atop the three towers of the Sands Hotel 

The Singapore Flyer as seen from the Skypark

View of the Singapore Strait and ongoing construction below

The durian-shaped Singapore Convention Center

Looking down on the bay and the ArtScience Museum

The Skypark is definitely not for the altophobic

The Central Business District and beyond

The ArtScience Museum

The Merlion seen from 57 stories up 

Today's architect has technology close at hand for creating extraordinary shapes and forms and turning these into astounding structures. The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube in Beijing, the Burj al Arab Hotel, i.m. pei's groundbreaking Louvre Pyramid, Zaha Hadid's BMW plant—all these iconic buildings were conceived using computerized modeling. Just thirty years ago edifices like these would have been impossible to build—a mere pipe dream to remain as a fantastical doodle in a designer's sketch pad.

The Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, designed by Israeli-born architect Moshe Safdie was initially inspired by a deck of cards. This astonishing complex, said to be the most expensive stand alone casino costing US$8 billion, is a  blend of glass and steel curving along impossible lines. It was a challenging project according to its engineers and builders. Three 57-storey towers of the Sands Hotel is joined together by a rooftop structure called the Skypark. It has a cantilevered  deck jutting out 64 meters from one tower, and the largest–longest–highest infinity pool with an edge "vanishing" into the Singapore skyline and beyond. It has a restaurant and bar offering a vertiginous view of the bay on one side and the Strait of Singapore on the other. The 20 hectare property includes  the ArtScience museum (shaped like a lotus flower), the Shoppes, the Glass Pavillions and the Sands Hotel and the 4-storey Casino. There is also the Helix Bridge, a pedestrian walkway linking the Marina Centre with Marina Bay Sands. 


The Shoppes is a mall of high end stores and gastronomic restaurants of superstar chefs like Mario Batalli and Daniel Bouloud. It also features a large skating rink of fake ice and sampan rides in a Venitian-like canal snaking its way around the shops. It's centerpiece, the Rain Oculus, created by American artist and sculptor Ned Kahn, has water bursting forth from an acrylic basket in the ceiling, gushing down into a rotunda in the waterway.


Peppered throughout the Marina Bay Sands complex are remarkable pieces of modern art, a visual feast for guests and the casual visitor. An ongoing exhibit at the ArtScience museum is a fairly comprehensive retrospective of Salvador Dali's works. There are Broadway musicals like The Lion King, Cirque Elóise and Rahman's Jai Ho showing in various theatres.


There are two yet to be completed crystal pavilions that will house the largest Louis Vuitton boutique in the world and two world famous night clubs, the Avalon and Pangea. The structures are on a floating island and connected by an underwater tunnel.


Overall, if one is allowed to proselytize, this temple to hedonism does its job in spectacular fashion. It indulges the senses in all ways possible. From the distinctive hotel, plush casino, luxury brand stores, gourmet restaurants, shows and attractions—all are designed to bedazzle, and entice you to part with your hard earned cash without really feeling it. The ancient art of smoke and mirrors, with the aid of technology, is now a science and cleverly employed in this breathtaking, 21st century resort.

Getting damp in a sampan by the rain oculus 

Skating on fake ice

ArtScience Museum closeup

Not too many straight lines here

Inside the glass awning of The Shoppes

Sculpture dotting the shopping mall

Diving the Kyokuzan Maru

exploring the very tip of the bow

strange coral shapes along the ship railing

through the wheelhouse

resident batfish

army vehicle in the hold, depth around 104ft

another swim through

a view of the upper deck

near the mast

Busuanga, Northern Palawan is famous for its World War II ship wrecks in Coron Bay. There are at least 11 that are easily reached by the average diver. One wreck in particular, the Kyokuzan Maru, was a supply vessel for the Japanese Army. The vessel sailed from Manila to Palawan during the liberation of the country in September of 1944. It then hid from American spy planes flying over Coron and later, it was deliberately scuttled to avoid enemy capture. All the ship wrecks in Coron Bay were bombed by the US Air Force except for this one. It sits in an upright position which makes for easy penetration.

looking down at the cargo hold, around 130-140ft

What makes the Kyokuzan Maru unique is the ship and its cargo remain relatively intact. Army vehicles with white side wall tires are still visible in its hold. It was also carrying building material including a load of asbestos. The asbestos is seen as a milky, suspended substance inside the open cargo hold. An eerie, ghostly aura emanates as you look straight down into this large, dark space. Not too many divers dare venture into this lower part of the ship. It is quite deep and beyond recreational diving limits. The thought of diving into a soup of asbestos is also not very appealing.

The vessel is large, 450ft in length and requires two dives to fully explore just the upper portions. Nitrox is advisable as most of the interesting sections are at 80-110ft in depth. The wheel house and galley are particularly fascinating— clam, batfish, and numerous hard coral have made this their home.

The ship wreck is situated in the northeastern side of Busuanga, close to Dimalanta Island, in a calm, protected bay. It is also known as the Dimalanta wreck. On the way there, you pass the heavily guarded Jewelmer Pearl Farm. Visibility underwater is remarkably clear because the area is sparsely populated. It is a wreck dive not to be missed!